The CS6X struck me as a very bright and dynamic sounding synth tailored for today's techno market. It sounds far better than it's Roland counterparts in the PCM territory (as far as synth sounds go) yet offers expandability to synthesis such as Analog Modelling, Virtual Acoustic Modelling, a meticulous sampled Piano board, Vocal Harmonizer and FM synthesis. It has 64 voices of polyphony which is plenty and the 2 modular plug-ins each have their own polyphony and timbrality (20 timbral in total for the CS6X). It may be a bit "gimmicky" as Max has put it just because of the nature of these keyboards (MC-505, JX-305, RM1X) as they are plug-n-play for your local rave masses. It comes stocked full of synth sounds and offers the ability to shape your sound through a series of Envelope Generators and filters and mix 4 parts together. Unlike the Roland Grooveboxes the CS^ does not have its own sequencer but can play back SMF. Not as in depth as Yamaha's EX series and no where close to their FS1R as far as deep editing and synthesis is concerned. The plug-in boards do seem to be expansive and not just simple add-ons, however.

If you really like dance-oriented and synthetic sounding music, the CS6X may be the right thing. The DSP expansion is quite powerful, (for eg: adding the AN plug-in allows more effects and 5 note of extra polyphony). The EX5 contains many forms of synthesis that can be sampled into AWM memory and then further manipulated. In the end $$$ is going to be the real concern. How much do these expansions cost?

Rating: 4 out of 5
posted Saturday-Jan-29-2000 at 03:26

Max Potekhin
a hobbyist user
from USA
writes:

Gimmicky machine. The filters are nice, and specs are OK, but it sounds nowhere near warm, and at the same time lacks the edge of good digital synths. Some machine give you inspiration, and some don't, and CS6x does not.

Rating: 3 out of 5
posted Saturday-Jan-29-2000 at 00:10

Álvaro M. Rocha
a professional user
from Portugal
writes:

I really resent some of the comments around here! I own a Roland JV Series workstation and I can really say the CS6x stands out for miles, for those who really can work it out!! Its one of the most powerfull dynamic synths i've ever seen and its really has killer sounds!! I realluy do mean "killer", so good, so warm, so... you get the picture... Even the "non analog" sounds are rich and genuine... the sounds sells it self... its very fun to play and even more fun to explore its synths abilities, and not just the ones possible in real time... For those who prefer Roland "to standard stuff" (which I own and like also) or AKAI conservative setups (which I also own), my advise is to try to program and manipulate CS6x sounds and not just stick to the presets (which are, in fact, in some cases, worst than the ones stated above). Be cool, AMR

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-Jan-28-2000 at 13:27

Mark
a hobbyist user
from Las Vegas, NV.
writes:

The downside: I still think for the same price (zzounds), a Nord Lead 2 is better. For $89 a card, you can buy 4 PCMCIA card for the Nord Lead 2 which gives you about 250 sounds and some crazy number of new drum kits per card.

The Upside: The CS6x is *NOT* a bad since. Don't get me wrong! If you have a CS6x you can do some killer shit! For those who like the CS1x or CS2x, this is a logical step forward.

I am broke, so I won't be buying one of these. But playing with one was a lot of fun. I'm content with my Nord Lead 2, Virus, AN1x, and A3000.

Rating: 5 out of 5
posted Friday-Jan-28-2000 at 12:30

patrick fridh
a professional user
from stockholm, sweden
writes:

Of course, it's nice when manufacturers release new stuff, but it's also truly sad seeing this instant flow of repackaging and repackaging, all the time. No news. This synth is in no way better than a Roland JV-1080 and, say, an Akai S-2000. It's no news. Don't sell your stuff to get one, it's only letting yourself being fooled by smart manufacturers. Wait until something _really_ new comes out, instead. This synth is just yesterday's news.